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Article

5 Oct 2016

Author:
Conectas Direitos Humanos (Brazil)

Doce River: Contaminated water - A year after the tragedy, Samarco fails to guarantee water quality in affected towns and communities

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On November 5, it will be a year since Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster: the bursting of the Fundão waste dam in...Minas Gerais...[It]...unleashed a wave of 32 million cubic meters of toxic mud, full of heavy metals,...left a trail of devastation along its 700 kilometers journey to the sea, on the Espírito Santo state coast...[It]...claimed 19 lives, left hundreds...homeless, contaminated the Gualaxo do Norte, Carmo and Doce rivers and caused environmental damage on a scale still not fully comprehended. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the material cost of the tragedy could reach R$155 billion...[L]ittle has been done to compensate the residents of the affected towns and villages...[F]ishermen, small farmers and the Krenak indigenous people...lost their livelihood as a result of the contamination of the river...Samarco has been unable to stop the leak and toxic sludge continues to spill into rivers...worsening the contamination...[R]iver water and tap water...contains levels of zinc, arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury above the limits permitted by law...[which]...can cause serious health problems...[A]ctivities...are being planned by MAB (Movement of People Affected by Dams) and...the Capixaba Forum for the one year anniversary of the tragedy.